


Finders, Keepers

by Macx



Category: Real Ghostbusters
Genre: Paranormal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-24
Updated: 2011-07-24
Packaged: 2017-10-21 17:35:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/227802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Macx/pseuds/Macx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas decoration has been disappearing at Ghostbuster Central for years. This year, the thief is caught in the act... a Collector Spirit</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finders, Keepers

**Author's Note:**

> originally written and published in 555-BUST in 2.1995

Winston came up the stairs leading from the basement of Ghostbuster Central, a box with Christmas decorations tugged under one arm. He passed Janine on his way to the stairs leading further up and gave her a smile. The red-haired secretary was on the phone, talking to her family. She had promised to come over at Christmas Eve to have dinner with them. The day after Christmas was reserved for friends and employers at Central.

As the black Ghostbuster arrived upstairs he put the box on the table and started to unpack. He was alone at the Headquarters, well not completely alone. Egon was at work on some so-called very important experiment in his lab. He had disappeared after breakfast and had not been seen ever since. Ray was off doing some Christmas shopping while Peter had driven over to Mrs. Faversham. He had promised to take her shopping today. Like Janine, the old lady had been invited to the party the day after Christmas.

Winston had to smile as he thought about Peter and Mrs. Faversham. Peter didn't exactly hate Christmas, but he didn't like it very much either. It had taken years to get him to stay with his friends at Christmas Eve and not walk around some deserted streets, hoping the evening would soon pass. About a year ago they had had a bust at Mrs. Faversham's house and Peter had immediately liked the elderly woman, and she had dragged him into the Christmas spirit even if he had resisted at first.

Winston placed the shining globes, the electrical candles and all other stuff on the table, and took inventory. They had enough to dress up two Christmas trees in the proper fashion, including a star for the top, though in the last years some Christmas globes had disappeared without trace. First he had thought it had been Slimer, their pet ghost, but Slimer didn't exactly eat Christmas decoration. He was in for the Christmas meals. 'Unexplained disappearance of Christmas decoration at Ghostbuster Central!' Winston had to laugh. That would be the headline for the evening paper.

As he started to decorate the tree with little wooden figures of angels, horses and Santa Clauses he hummed some Christmas melodies. He was so absorbed in his work he didn't notice the movement at first. Only when he reached for a silver globe on the table and didn't find it where he had placed it mere minutes ago, did his attention return. Where had the damn little globe gone to? He hadn't placed it anywhere else and he hadn't hung it on the tree yet! Suddenly there was a slight 'whouff!', followed by a soft 'klonk' as if something had hit the ground. Winston looked down on the floor and his mouth fell open in surprise.

There, on the floor, was his silver globe, light reflecting in the shiny surface. But it wasn't the fact that the globe had rolled off the table down on the floor that made him gape, but the small paws holding the globe like some precious treasure.

"I don't believe it!" Winston muttered, stunned.

The little being squeaked as it saw it had been noticed. Nearly transparent, blue wings stretched out and flapped. It tried to lift off with the globe! But the globe seemed to be far too heavy for the tiny winged creature to lift it and it stopped, wheezing. Winston knelt down and got a first good look at the little thief. Whatever it was it looked like a miniature dragon with a body the size of a mouse. It had a shiny, blue skin, four legs, two wings, a long neck and a tail which was at least twice as long as the rest of its body. Large, black eyes stared at the Ghostbuster and the front paws, which looked more like tiny fingers, clutched the globe even harder. The pointed ears turned like radar dishes and the small nostrils flared.

"And who are you, you little thief?" Winston asked gently.

The little dragon squeaked again and it looked offended. "No thief!" a high-pitched voice said with as much hurt as it could put into the two words.

Winston was surprised. "You can talk?"

"Me can talk! Me no thief!"

"Well, taking something that doesn't belong to you is called theft."

The little dragon cocked its head. "Belong?"

Winston pointed at the globe. "That's not yours. It's ours."

"Is mine, is mine!" it protested, trying to roll the globe away from the human. "Finders, keepers!"

"I'd still call it stealing." The Ghostbuster grinned. "I wonder ..... did you take all the other Christmas decoration, too?"

"Nice ball, shiny ball, take home," the dragon explained, nodding vigorously.

"So you stole the others, too."

"No steal, no thief!" The dragon looked offended again. "Found it."

"You could have asked, you know." Winston smiled. "It wouldn't have been that much more trouble."

"Take home?" the blue dragon asked hopefully, looking pleadingly at him. It seemed to be fully aware that the much larger human was very well able to take his treasure away from him.

"Well, it's Christmas and Christmas means to make others happy." Winston seemed to ponder the question. "Yes, you can take it home."

The dragon squeaked in delight and tried to lift off again, but as before it couldn't manage it.

"Too heavy, hm? Why don't you take a smaller one?" The globe was nearly twice the size of the dragon and even though it was hollow inside it was still heavy.

"No small!" The dragon gripped the globe possessively. "This one! Silver ball! Big ball!"

Winston held out his hand, palm up. The dragon eyed it nervously, edging away from him as far as its grip on the globe allowed it to.

"I won't hurt you, little one," the Ghostbuster reassured it softly. "Come on."

"No hurt?"

"I promise. Climb up before I step on you."

With a lot of work the little dragon managed to maneuver itself and its precious globe onto Winston's palm. The Ghostbuster lifted the featherlight creature up and placed it onto the table. As it saw all the other Christmas decorations its black eyes lit up like a tree full of candles. Winston laughed softly as the blue dragon scurried along the table, looking at every globe and shiny object. It looked like a small child in a toy store.

"Nice things!" it called happily. "Shiny things!" Its paws came to rest on the golden star that was supposed to be the tree's top decoration. "Starry thing!"

"No." Winston shook his head.

"No take?" Large black eyes glittered wetly as if the dragon was about to break out in tears.

"No, 'no take'. That's ours and not yours. I gave you the globe. It's enough."

The little head turned between the silver globe and the golden star. It seemed indecisive what to do. "Give back ball, take starry thing?" It wagged its tail.

"Sorry, we only have this one. You take the ball I gave you as a present."

"What present?"

"We humans give presents to others we like," the dark skinned man explained.

"Like me?" the dragon chirped.

Winston laughed. "I'm trying, you little thief."

"No thief! Finders, keepers!" The dragon snorted.

"Yeah, you said that before. Now, to make it clear: yours is the globe, mine's the star, okay?"

"Okay", it said reluctantly, looking sadly at the star.

"How did you get here anyway?" Winston asked as he untangled the electrical candles.

"Use door." It cocked its head. "Easy."

"You're no ghost, right?"

"No ghost. Lili."

"Lili? That your name?"

"Lili. What name?"

"It's what you are called by others. My name is Winston."

The dragon seemed to mull it over. Then it nodded. "Lili. Name."

"Where do you come from, Lili?" Winston wished the others were here.

"Home. Take ball home. Show friends. Play." Lili stretched and walked over to the globe. "Take home." It frowned. "How?" It looked questioningly at Winston.

The black Ghostbuster scratched his chin. Lili was not powerful enough to lift the globe and Winston had no idea where the dragon wanted to take it.

"This door of yours ... how do you open it?"

"Open. Easy." Lili seemed to shrug, unable to comprehend why Winston asked such a stupid question.

"Tell you what: you show me where that door of yours is and I carry your globe there."

Lili pondered the offer, looking from the globe to Winston and back again. Then the dragon nodded. "Show door." It stretched its wings and took off.

Winston grabbed the globe and followed it. Lili flew towards the door of Egon's lab.

"The lab?" Winston asked in disbelief. "You came through a door that is in Egon's lab?"

"Door." Lili pointed at the lab door. "Door behind door."

Winston shrugged and opened the door. He stepped into the lab and looked for Egon. The blond physicist sat hunched over some experiment and had not heard the other man enter. Lili fluttered around the lab and settled down on a cupboard.

"Door!" it chimed.

Egon looked up in surprise as he heard the strange voice. He discovered Winston standing in the doorframe, carrying a silver Christmas globe.

"Uhm, sorry to interrupt your experiment, Egon," the black man started. "But ...."

"There door!" Lili flew over to a mirror.

 Egon's eyebrows climbed several centimeters as he noticed the little, blue dragon. "Who is this?", he asked Winston.

"Its name is Lili. It is the one who has been stealing our Christmas decoration the last few years."

"No thief!" Lili cried, hurt. "Found it."

"Yeah, you found it on the tree, right?"

In a very human gesture the dragon stuck out its tongue. The human stiffled a laugh.

"Fascinating." Egon straightened his glasses.

"It isn't a ghost," Winston grinned. "It says it came through a door."

Egon picked up his P.K.E. and pointed it at the dragon. The dragon eyed the device cautiously, ready to flee if necessary. "It doesn't have any psychokinetic readings. Hm." He laid down the meter again and pulled 'Tobin's Spirit Guide' out of a drawer. He leafed through it.

Winston walked over to him. "What's it say?"

"I think your little friend is a rare kind of Collector Spirit. They are not real ghosts, but something in between. 'Tobin's' says they love to collect everything that shines or glitters. They carry it to their world and store it there. They are quite harmless little fellows."

"A spiritual magpie," Winston laughed.

"Something like that, yes." Egon examined the blue dragon who still sat in front of the mirror, watching them curiously.

"Have ball? Go home?" it asked expectantly.

Winston held up the Christmas globe and Lili's eyes shone with happiness. "Here you go, little one. And next time you come over for a Christmas visit, just ask."

"Ask." Lili nodded. "Visit Winston, get shiny globe, yes."

Winston smiled. "Yeah, you're always welcome." He placed the globe on the cupboard and the dragon took it.

Then the mirror started to glow in a soft, pink light. Lili rolled the globe to the mirror and pushed it inside. The globe vanished without a trace. The dragon chirped happily and took off. It circled Winston once, then dove into the mirror. As soon as the little creature had disappeared the glowing stopped.

"Hi guys!" The jovial voice of Ray Stantz echoed up from downstairs, followed by heavy footsteps. Minutes later the occultist appeared in the lab. "What's up?"

"Uhm, nothing special, Ray." Winston passed the younger man and went back to decorating the tree, leaving it to Egon to explain to Ray what had happened while he was shopping.

 

 

 


End file.
